Confused about the cloud? Head to the Think Tank for the answers to your questions!

The Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub and the Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce are inviting local firms to find out more about cloud computing and how it could benefit their business at an event on Tuesday 14th July.

Supported by Lincolnshire County Council’s onlincolnshire project and Bluecube Telecommunications, ‘Time to Bin Your Tin?’ will take place at the Lincoln Think Tank from 5pm until 6.30pm.

Simon Beardsley, Chief Executive of the Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This event will explain why an increasing number of businesses are moving away from installing expensive equipment on their premises and moving towards cloud services that don’t go out of date or need regular upgrades.

“Not only can it help save money but staff can work more flexibly as the cloud also allows you to access your files from anywhere at any time.”

Toni O’Brien from the Business Lincolnshire Growth Hub said: “A lot of people have heard about the cloud but are not sure what it can do for them or how they can access it.

“We’ll have several experts speaking on the day who will be able to explain the benefits and answer any questions they might have about the cloud or related technologies such as Voice over IP (VoIP) which allows users to make free, or very low-cost, telephone calls over the Internet.”

During the event delegates will be invited to network before hearing from guest speakers including Lee Houston from Vanilla IP, who will talk about VoIP, and Beth Perks from Talk Talk, who will talk about connectivity.

Stephen Brookes from onlincolnshire, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), will provide an update on the county’s superfast broadband programme.

Executive Member for Economic Development at Lincolnshire County Council, Cllr Colin Davie, said: “We want to help businesses work smarter so they can compete in a global marketplace.

“Thanks to the onlincolnshire project over 100,000 homes and businesses now have access to superfast broadband which will enable them to take advantage of new technologies like the cloud which could revolutionise the way they do business.”

To book your place please visit the Evenbrite website.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

About onlincolnshire

• onlincolnshire is a Lincolnshire County Council-run project which is part-funded by the East Midlands European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 to 2013.
• In March 2013, the council signed a £48 million contract with BT to provide superfast broadband to at least 88% of county properties by 2016, with the remaining properties having access to at least of 2Mbps broadband. A further investment of £2.8 million was announced in February 2014 which has increased the number of properties to 89%.
• The contract with BT concentrates on an intervention area of over 150,000 premises where existing or planned commercial roll outs would not deliver superfast speeds.
• The Department for Communities and Local Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme, which is one of the funds established by the European Commission to help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support local businesses and create jobs. For more information visit www.communities.gov.uk/erdf
• Some internet users in rural Lincolnshire experience speeds of less than 1 Mbps. The UK’s average broadband speed is 12 Mbps, according to Ofcom.
• onlincolnshire also offers up to 12 hours of support and advice to eligible Lincolnshire businesses to help them make the most of their access to improved broadband. Specialist consultants provide demonstrations, workshops, masterclasses or one-to-one coaching and mentoring to businesses to improve their services, processes, productivity and profitability.

For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Kate Strawson
Shooting Star PR
kate@weareshootingstar.co.uk
01522 528540
07733 230293
@KateStrawson